INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Top Fuel point leader Justin Ashley wrapped up a season of dominance in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge today at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park during the second day of qualifying for the 69th running of the NHRA U.S. Nationals. Ashley won the specialty race for the sixth time in seven final round appearances defeating Antron Brown in an all-Toyota final. The win netted Ashley and his Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team $15,000 and three more championship points. As the season champion Ashley has won $69,000 in cash and 21 championship points which will be added to his playoff point total following the conclusion of the regular season on Monday night.

“The Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge is great for our fans, teams and drivers,” said Ashley, who also has six Top Fuel national event wins this season. “We love it because it is another opportunity to turn on win lights and participate in meaningful racing during qualifying. We learn from every run, but I think there’s some momentum that gets carried forward between Saturday and Sunday. “

In the opening qualifying session today, Ashley faced Leah Pruett in a rematch of the Brainerd Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals semifinals. As the starting line Christmas Tree activated Pruett jumped the start turning on the win light for Ashley and advancing him to his seventh Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.

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Plainview, NY – The biggest race of the year will have the eyes of the entire drag racing universe on a Top Fuel class led by 11-time Top Fuel winner and 2023 Top Fuel point leader Justin Ashley. The six-time winner in 2023 driving the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster will be looking to win the Dodge Power Broker U.S. Nationals for the first time and duplicate a feat his Funny Car driving father, Mike Ashley accomplished in 2007.

“You’re excited for any race but there’s something special about the U.S. Nationals,” said Ashley. “That’s the one that everyone wants to win. That’s the race that cements your legacy in this sport and we want to win that race. It’s a grind because of the five qualifying sessions, because of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge and then race day on Monday. It really takes a team effort from the beginning of the weekend through the end of the weekend, so that’s a special one. It’s really an exciting way to end the regular season then shift our focus to the countdown.”

This will be Ashley’s fourth U.S. Nationals and the team owner and driver will be looking to improve on his two previous semifinal finishes. As a rookie in 2020 Ashley qualified No. 13 and he beat Billy Torrence, the defending 2019 champion Doug Kalitta before losing to Shawn Langdon in a wild pedalfast. Last year as the No. 2 qualifier Ashley defeated Langdon and Torrence again before losing to eventual U.S. Nationals winner Toyota teammate Antron Brown.

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BRAINERD, MN – At the conclusion of qualifying yesterday Justin Ashley ran to the No. 1 qualifier spot in the Phillips Connect Toyota dragster powered by Okuma setting up an interesting race day at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. Ashley earned a championship point on Saturday in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge race and clinched his spot in the Countdown to the Playoffs. The combination of championship and qualifying points had Ashley focused on making the most of his opportunity today.

“This sport is so up and down,” said Ashley, a six-time Top Fuel winner in 2023. “You have to really learn to appreciate the little things. When these moments come you can’t bypass them because we’re in the middle of our season. You need to appreciate it because it takes a lot of energy, hard work, commitment, and dedication both on and off the racetrack to be able to be in positions like this. It was very meaningful, to be able to receive all the Countdown celebration awards on behalf of our entire Phillips Connect Toyota team.”

In the first round Ashley faced veteran Terry Totten and his Totten Racing Top Fuel team. The 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year and 2023 season point leader Ashley was not looking past a tough competitor. As the reaction time average category leading driver Ashley was first off the line and never trailed in the drag race. His winning time of 3.748 seconds at 332.51 mph was right with his qualifying time and earned Ashley a competition bye run in the second round.

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Adds Championship Point in Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge

BRAINERD, MN – Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Okuma saved the best run for last today at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals running to the Top Fuel No. 1 spot. Entering the final qualifying session in hot conditions Ashley was sitting No. 6 but his surprising 3.746 second pass at 328.14 mph moved him to the top of the class and a first round race with No. 14 qualifier Terry Totten. This was Ashley’s second No. 1 of 2023 and first at Brainerd International Raceway.

“That’s an excellent run with the conditions what they were (hot), nothing necessarily surprises me with the team that we have with Mike Green and Tommy DeLago,” said Ashley, who has six wins in 2023. “It just speaks volumes for our team. This is kind of a unique situation because I’m not sure how much of that you can actually take and apply it to tomorrow because it’s going to be cooler. It’ll be much different out there tomorrow. But nonetheless, what we did was, at least position ourselves the best that we can heading into race day. I don’t care who we’re racing now. I feel like it’s hard to even win on a bye run out there. It’s going to be tough starting with our good friend Terry Totten over there. I never take anyone lightly so I am looking forward to hopefully what will be a long and exciting race tomorrow.”

During the first qualifying session today at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Okuma earned one championship point but did not advance to the final round for the first time in seven appearances in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Ashley dropped a close race to Antron Brown, 3.842 seconds to 3.804 seconds. By virtue of his quicker elapsed time compared to Clay Millican’s 3.886 second pass Ashley grabbed the championship point awarded to the quickest semifinalist.

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PLAINVIEW, NY – Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Okuma are looking to head to the land of 10,000 lakes and secure a third consecutive NHRA national event win in a row for the first time in his young career as a team owner and driver at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. Ashley, the 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year, a six-time winner in 2023 is looking add another win to a streak that saw him win on the West Coast at the Sonoma Nationals three weeks ago and last weekend in America’s heartland at the Menards NHRA Nationals in Topeka. The Top Fuel points leader is excited to be getting back into action after a unique weekend in Kansas.

“Last weekend was a lot, and I am so thankful we got the win because my Phillips Connect Toyota team did an amazing job,” said Ashley. “We had four amazing turnarounds on race day in tough, tough conditions. It was a testament to the strength and resiliency of our team.”

Ashley has won eight consecutive rounds of racing for the third time this season. His first win of the year came at the Arizona Nationals and then two weeks later he captured the title at the Winternationals. In an amazing weekend of win lights he won the relocated and postponed New England Nationals at Bristol Dragway on Saturday and then won the Thunder Valley Nationals on Sunday with a Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory sandwiched in the middle.

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TOPEKA, KS  – On the 30th anniversary of Jim “Mr. 300” Epler’s historic Funny Car accomplishment, the now Executive Vice-President of Phillips Connect, Justin Ashley’s primary sponsor, was able to celebrate in the winner’s circle after Ashley won for the sixth time this season at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor. It was October of 1993 when Epler flew down the historic Heartland Motorsports Park track to break the last significant Funny Car speed record. Unfortunately, Epler was not able to capitalize on his run with a win, but today he was front and center with Ashley for four win lights and some closure to a significant NHRA career.

“It is its closure, you know, for me,” said Epler, in the pressroom standing beside his young championship contending driver. “Our car was running really good that day. We went 300 mph and then a parts failure caused the car to burn up and we couldn’t even make it to the semis. That was a historic race, but you’d love to get the big record and then win the race. I was surprised when Justin’s team put my likeness from that day, on his car’s front wing. You always think he’s got a legitimate chance to win, and we talked about it but that doesn’t make it happen. It’s I’m just still like, really blessed that we were able to pull that off and there is a little bit of closure there.”

For Ashley today was a marathon for the seven-time finalist in 2023. A six-hour rain delay pushed back the start of the event until nearly 4 p.m. local time. Ashley, as the No. 7 qualifier, had to face one of his toughest recent opponents, Josh Hart. The pair recently met in the semifinals two weeks ago at the Sonoma Nationals with Ashley advancing to a final and another win in one of the closest races of the day. Yesterday the duo met in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge rematch race with Ashley once again getting the upper hand.

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TOPEKA, KS – For the first time in six attempts Justin Ashley will not hoist the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge trophy after the Top Fuel point leader dropped a close race to No. 1 qualifier Steve Torrence in the final qualifying session at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor. Ashley and the Phillips Connect Top Fuel dragster team have already secured five Mission Challenge titles to earn $50,000 and fifteen championship points will add $3,000 and two championship points to his total after today’s runner-up finish.

“Our crew chiefs Mike (Green) and Tommy (DeLago) will go back and look at the data. We may have missed it in the last session but those guys are the best in the business,” said Ashley, a five-time Top Fuel national event winner this season. “We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to go to another Mission Foods Final and very much enjoy the competition. But now our focus is on Sunday and putting it all together to find success. We’ll take those mission points and get ready for more racing.”

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PLAINVIEW, NY – With five wins and six final round appearances this season Top Fuel points leader Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team are looking to keep the pressure on the rest of the field as the regular season ends. With three races remaining before the points are reset Ashley, who already has fifteen championship points in the bank, is looking to extend his lead with another Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win this weekend at the NHRA Topeka Nationals and add another win to his personal record-setting season. The fourth-year driver and team owner knows that there are tough competitors from the top to the bottom of the Top Fuel class but he is ready to take on all challengers.

“We had a very productive Western Swing,”. said Ashley, who has 10 career Top Fuel wins. “The highlight was winning Sonoma. But we were able to take something valuable from each race that we can apply moving forward. Finding success at such a critical part of the regular season was important for our Phillips Connect Toyota team.”

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SONOMA, CA – After a dominant weekend, championship contender Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel dragster powered by Okuma raced to victory today at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Ashley picked up his fifth win of the season in his sixth final round appearance defeating Doug Kalitta, Austin Prock, Josh Hart and Antron Brown to secure his tenth career Top Fuel win. The win moved Ashley back into the Top Fuel point lead after only one week in the No. 2 spot. Ashley will also compete in his sixth Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge in two weeks, a specialty event that he has already won five times collecting $50,000 and 15 champions points. The success exhibited today at Sonoma Raceway has Ashley and the Phillips Connect team eager to close out the regular season and head into the NHRA Countdown playoffs.

“The competition is so difficult,” said Ashley. “It’s so hard. It really feels like every round is a final round each time you get up there. There’s no margin for error. I knew it would take a real team effort to win a race this weekend, and it did my crew chiefs Mike Green and Tommy DeLago had an incredible race day.”

Ashley started his race day with a tough first round opponent in Toyota teammate Kalitta. It was a battle of two Mac Tools backed teams looking to keep building momentum as the Western Swing ended. Ashley with the starting line advantage and never trailed for the win. He made his quickest run of the weekend with a winning time of 3.707 seconds against Kalitta’s 3.750 second, which was his best pass of the Sonoma Nationals.

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PLAINVIEW, NY – As the Western Swing winds down with the final stop this weekend, for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 28-30, at picturesque Sonoma Raceway Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel team powered by Okuma are looking to get their momentum back. This season the fourth year Top Fuel team owner and driver has collected four wins and five final round appearances, both career highs for a season, through eleven NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series National events. The 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year has also won five Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge specialty races, collecting $50,000 and possibly more valuable 15 championship points. The first two races of the swing have not been as successful as Ashley would have liked but he is focusing on the future not the past.

“The first two races of the swing are in the past and we are focused on how we can continue to get better in the present moment,” said Ashley. “We have great data from Seattle that we hope to apply this weekend in Sonoma. The track will be fast and we get four qualifying sessions which is ideal for our Phillips Connect Toyota team powered by Okuma.”

This will be Ashley’s third time racing at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, a track with a long history of quick elapsed times and high speeds. The facility also draws fans and supporters from across the country and region thanks to its proximity to the world-famous wine country. The allure of seeing record times could also bring the “Phillips Connect 300 at the 1/8” program for any Top Fuel or Funny Car driver to break that speed barrier at the 1/8-mile mark into jeopardy and add a $30,000 bonus to their bank account for the effort.

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